Improved hearing-aid



4 Sheets-Sh eet l INVENTOR. M/A R 3'?- 77'3 LLIN QR H ATTORNEY M. H. HOLLINGSWORTH IMPROVED HEARING-AID Oct. 20, 1959 Flled Sept 20 1954 4 G a O 2 w a i W a M. H. HOLLINGSWOIRTH 2,909,619

IMPROVED HEARING-AID 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20. 1954 INVENTOR MfiR F H- "HOLLINGSWORTH ATTQRNEY Oct. 20, 1959 M..H. HOLLINIGSWQRTH IMPROVED HEARING-AID Filed Sept. 20, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

LIN RTB MAURICE a. no;

fiTToRNEY Oct. 20, 1959 M. H. HOLLINGSWORTH 2,909,519

IMPROVED HEARING-AID Filed Sept. 20, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 rm l wzozaomoi INVENTOR. MJBURICBE o meswoRTH MmZuUuK ETTORNEY U i ed States ten ,O ice Patented Oct. 20, 1959 8 Claims. (Cl. 179-107) The present invention relates to an improved complete :and self-contained hearing-aid for hard-of-hearing persons that is adapted to be worn as an adornment for the ear.

It has been recognized formany years, particularly by those persons concerned with the use of hearing-aids, that there is a psychological barrier that prevents many people, affiicted with a hearing loss, from using such hearing-aids to recover that loss because such hearing-aids are conspicuous and clearly visible to other persons thus advertising the users infirmity. While various proposed attempts have been made heretofore to conceal portions of a hearing-aid in the clothing or in the hair of women, or both, and to have the sound emitter (the receiver) worn at the defective ear with the transmitter (microphone) carried on the torso of the wearer, the main difliculty with these prior devices has always been that wires are required, which extend from the receiver at the ear of the user to the microphone and the amplifying means carried elsewhere on the person of-tthe user, thesaid wiresbeing more difiicult to conceal in most cases than the component parts of such devices.

"Moreover, such arrangements, as just mentioned, do not provide true binaural hearing for hard-of-hearing persons because the microphone of the device is not positioned adjacent the defective ear served by it--but at some other location on the person of the user remote from his ear to. be served by it-and, as a consequence, the sound is' not picked-up as it is by a normal ear'-i.e.,' at one :side of the head of the user and rearwardly of his face. (Thus, the sound is not heard by the user as it would be heard by two normal ears'i.e., with depth and direction-because the microphone is not in proper spatial relation with the other unimpaired ear of the user, or, if his hearing is defective in both ears, is not in proper spatial relation with another microphone at his other ear. The object of the present invention, therefore, is to overcome the aforesaid and other previous drawbacks in the prior art with respect to hearing-aids and to provide a hearing-aid, for women particularly, in the form of an ear adornment, to be worn in the manner of an earring, containing and concealing therein a complete operative volume controllable hearing-aid instrumentality, the construction and arrangement of which locates the microphone and the receiver thereof adjacent the ear of the wearer which they serve. Hence, in the event both ears of a hard-of-hearing person need aid, one such device, equipped with a complete and independent hearing-aid, may be worn at each ear.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive means whereby the ornamentation of each hearing-aid device may be changed by the user to produce a new or dilferent effect as may be desired or to match or contrast with her clothing ensemble. The aboveobjects may be attained by designing an ear-ring to house all of the component parts of an electrically amplified hearing-aid--including its microphone, receiver, the battery, volume control and on-and-oft ear of the user as a conventional ear-ring by suitable means attachable to either pierced .or non-pierced ear lobes or to an ear mold fitted in the ear.

-It is also within the purview of this invention for the microphone'to be mounted within a .unitary housing, forming the ear-ring, by setting it in a soft cushioning materialto eliminate acoustical feedback within the usual range of amplification, or to be suspended therefrom, in the manner of an ornamental pendant, yet electrically connected with other hearing-aid components, When so suspended, the microphone eliminates feedback in a wider range of amplification. Should the hearing-aid be of the air-conduction type, a short rubber or plastic air tube extends from the receiver, within the housing, into the ear canal, this tube being so positioned as to be screened or veiled by the ear-ring from the ordinary view of others; and, should'the hearing-aid be of the boneconduction type, the receiver may be cemented to the head immediately behind the ear of the wearer and the microphone may be contained within or suspended from the main body of the ear-ring.

Furthermore, the housing may be embellished with any desired ornamentation either directly thereon and/ or by a removable ornamented part, which latter may comprise a base member, preferably of thin material, light in weight, having designs in relief or intaglio or having designs appliqued thereto, and which may be readily and quickly removed and replaced with another similar part of different color or design. The base member, or'the ornamentation carried by it or the housing, may be designed to extend beyond the perimeter of the housing to further conceal the housing.

Due to the size and weight of hearing-aid components only ,now available, the complete hearing-aid device. may be designed smaller and only slightly heavier than many ear-rings readily purchasable on the market today.

The invention resides in the'combination and organization of parts and in the sundry detailed features of construction hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

' In order to aid in a clear understanding of this specification, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which-'- Figure 1 is-a view illustrating the presently preferred form of the invention as it will appear when being worn;

Figure 2 is a front face perspective view of the preferred form of the ear-ring hearing-aid as illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear face perspective view illustrating the ear-ring he'aringaid, shown in Figure 2, but with the ornament removed from the front face;

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 3 illustrating the manner in which the microphone is mounted and suspended in the main body of the ear-ring:

Figure 5 is a disassembled view in perspective of the main body-unit of the ear-ring hearing-aid shown in Figures 1 and 2 to illustrate the construction thereof and the arrangement of the components of the hearing-aid therein in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 5a is a perspective view of a battery and its relation with an ejector member, when the ejector is assembled on the cover plate C, as shown in Figures 3 and 6, and the battery is in its position as shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a disassembled view in perspective, similar to Figure 5, illustrating a modified form of the ear-ring wherein the microphone is contained in the main'body of the ear-ring;

Figure 7 is an elevation of an ear-ring body member, similar to that shown in Figure 6 wherein the sound emitter, or receiver, is cemented to the head of the wearer behind the pinna structure of the ear to bear against the mastoid bone;

Figure 8 illustrates a wiring diagram for a 3-transistor amplifying circuit that may be employed in the assemblies shown 'in Figures -1 to 5, inclusive; and

Figure 9 is a wiring diagram of a 2-transistor amplifying circuit for use in the arrangement shown in Figure 6.

Referring specifically to the drawings, in which like characters denote similar and like parts throughout the several views, the improved hearing-aid device illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, is the presently preferred embodiment. While a single ear-ring is illustrated in the several views, it is to be understood that, so-called, ear adornments or ear-rings are provided in pairs, as is the customone for the right ear and one for the left ear-each being identical in every respect unless fad or fashion dictates otherwise; and each adornment device will contain a complete hearing-aid system (except in those cases where the receiver is carried by an ear-mold or is of the bone conduction type as shown in Fig. 7). Therefore, where only one ear of the user is in need of aid, the ear adornment device for the other car of the user, while being externally identical, may not contain the hearing-aid instrumentality.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, the ear-ring hearing-aid comprises a body assembly including a main chambered unit 10 preferably, but not necessarily, rectangular in shape from which is suspended, by a semi-stiff tube 11 preferably of plastic material, a smaller hollow pendant body-unit 12 which may be of any desired configuration capable of removably housing a microphone 13 (see Figure 4).

The main body-unit '10 is preferably compartmented, in the manner shown at x in Figure 5, to compactly receive and contain therein all of the instrumentalities of a hearing-aid system, except the microphone 13. These hearing-aid instrumentalities shown in Figure are those shown in the wiring diagram of Figure 8, and include the receiver .or sound emitter 14, the condensers C C and C the transformer T, the battery 15, the combine volume control and switch R and the transistors TR TR and TR these transistors being indicated generally by :the box-like configurations so as to include the socket therefor. Because of the diminutive size of the transistors and the resistors, the resistors R and R are disposed in the same compartment with the transistor TR and the resistors R and R are disposed in the same compartment with the transistor TR and the condensers C and C are grouped in one compartment. As can be seen, particularly .in Figure 3, the compartment x for the receiver -14-iszpositioned so as to be located substantially opposite the ear canal of the user, when the device is being Worn, in order that a short plastic tube 16 may be extended directly therefrom at the back or inner face of the bodyunit into the ear. Also, the battery 15 is housed in a compartment x recessed in one side edge of the bodyunit so that the battery may be easily and quickly inserted into and removed from the compartment without disassembling the rest of the ear-ring structure. The resistor R which provides the combined switch and volume control, comprises a metallic arcuate member '17 disposed in a similarly shaped compartment x and has one end connected to an adjacent portion or partition within the body-unit; and, further, comprises a wiping finger 18 for cooperation with its arcuate element 17, the wiper being in the form of a bell crank lever, one end of which forming said wiping finger and the other end p forming a manually operable finger piece projecting through a slotted portion x in the side edge of the body member 10. The wiping finger 18 is dielectrically secured to a portion or partitioning part of the body member 10 by means of a screw or the like 19. The partitions compartmenting the body-unit 10 are notched or otherwise provided with slots or openings 20 which aiford communication between the compartments to allow the connecting wires or conductors to extend between the various instrumentalities.

The facing wall a of the body-unit 10, closing one side of said compartments x, may be integral with the sides b thereof and forms the outer face of the ear-ring, when being worn, and may be ornamented in any desired way. The other side of said compartments is closed by a cover 0 removably held in place by suitable screws or other fastening elements 21, this cover 0 forming the inner side of the ear-ring. The cover 0 is provided with an opening 22 through which the relatively short plastic tube 16 projects from the receiver 14; and is further provided with an elongated slot 23 therein positioned opposite the battery compartment x. A stud-like member 24 is slidably mounted in the slot 23 and carries on its inner end a battery ejector 25. The outer end of the stud 24 protrudes outwardly of the slot 23 to provide a finger piece. This ejector 25 is preferably in the form of a flat spring contact member having its inner end e downwardly turned (see Fig. 15a) and positioned inwardly of the opening in the battery compartment x to engage the innermost side of the battery 15 disposed in said compartment. Thus, when the battery is inserted through the opened end of its compartment x, it will engage the downwardly turned end e of the ejector and make'electrical contact therewith and the spring-like outer end of the ejector will press the battery down into electrical contact with the terminal 26 inthe battery compartment x. When it is desired to replace the battery 15, it is only necessary for the user to move the finger piece of stud 24 in its slot 23 and thus eject the battery sufficiently from its compartment x to allow the user 'to grip the battery with his fingers and remove it entirely from the compartment, without the removal of the cover-plate 0. Furthermore, the cover-plate c has two closely positioned openings 27 therein through which a fastener 28 may .extend, as shown particularly in Figures 3 and 4, for fastening the main body-unit 10 to the pierced lobe of an ear. This fastener 28 is positioned on the cover 0 so that, when the hearing-aid device is attached to the ear of the wearer, the portion of the body-unit containing the receiver '14 will lie opposite or substantially opposite the auditory canal of said ear in order that the tube 16 may project in a substantially straight line into said canal and be obscured from view. However, it is to be understood that other desired fastening means may be substituted for the fastening means 28, herein shown, and which will provide the ear-ring effect for this hearing-aid device.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, it is preferred that the main body 10 be positioned with two of its corners being substantially in vertical alignment and, from the lower of said corners a microphone housing 12 is suspended .by a plastic tubing 11. This may be accomplished by providing the ends of the tube 11 with flanges f and f and disposing said flanges in complemental recesses r formed at the inner ends of the apertures g and -h in the main body-unit 10 and in the microphone housing unit 12, respectively. A frictional insert member 29 is positioned in overlying contact with flange f to provide sufficient friction against said flange to hold it in place and to prevent the tube 11 from turning unintentionally but permitting deliberate rotative adjustment of the tube .11 and, hence, of the microphone, if desired, when attending a theatre or the like. The microphone 1-3 is surrounded on all sides, except at its face, by .a jacket of sponge or foam rubber 13 which tightly fits into the chamber or cavity of the unit 12 and, thus, frictionally bears against the lower flange member f of the tube 11.

The face a of the body-unit 10 may carry an ornament of any desired type, design, configuration or color. The ornament may consist of a separable body 30 portion havinga size or diameter in excess of that ofthe body member .10 so as to shield the same from view. A multiplicity of pairs of these ornaments 30 may be supplied so that the user may have a change of design or color scheme for use with the body-unit 10; and, to this end, at least three of the sides of the body-unit is formed with notches or recesses 31 which receive spring detent members 32 projecting laterally and inwardly from the rear face of the ornament 30, as is clearly shown in Figure 4. In like manner the open front face of the microphone housing. 12 may be camouflaged or covered with a similar ornament indicated at 30, having spring detent members 32. engageable in recesses 31 in the adjacent side edge portions of the housing 12.

The ear-ring hearing-aid device, above described, may be worn as shown in Figure l and will be of a size no larger than the costume jewelry ear-rings now in vogue. This is made possible by the small size of the component parts of the hearing-aid instrumentalities now available on the market; and, as can be seen from Figure 1, the ear tube 16 extending from the receiver 14 will be obscured from view, except on the closest intimate inspection, as the tube extendsalmost in a straight line from the receiver to the ear canal, the outer end of this tube being formed with a bulbilar extremity 16 designed to fit into the meatus of the ear with an air seal. The volume control 1718 can be quickly and easily adjusted by operation of the finger piece p in an, unobtrusive and inconspicuous manner. The hearing-aid system, shown as employed with this form of the invention, is the 3-stage transistor amplifying circuit illustrated in Figure 8 which affords a high degree of amplification of the received sound waves for those who have a larger degree of hearing impairment; however, it is to be understood that where desired the 2-stage amplification circuit, shown in Figure 9, may be employed. By suspending the microphone from the main body-unit 10- of the hearing-aid by means of the plastic tube 11, acoustical feedback is eliminated orreduced to a minimum; and by having the microphone of each unit suspended as a pendulous or dangling portion of a conventional ear-ring adjacent the ear it serves and with its diaphragm or sound responsive member in a plane approximately perpendicular to and bisecting the axis of the car, as shown, binaural hearing is produced localizing and detecting the source of sound as in the case of natural ears.

Figure 6 illustrates a modification of the ear-ring hearing-aid just described in connection with Figures 1 to 5, inclusive. This modification resides in changing the form of the body assembly to comprise the body unit 10 only and so compartment 'this unit as to completely house therein the hearing-aid circuit shown in Figure 9 including the microphone. Consequently, all parts in Figure 6, similar to those in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, will be designated by the same reference characters as in Figures 1 to and, since the hearing-aid circuit, shown in Figure 9, employs less number of instrumentalities than the hearing-aid circuit shown in Figure 8, the main bodyunit 10, shown in Figure 6, is slightly modified to house the microphone 13 therein. This is accomplished by providing an outwardly extending projection 33 (preferably at the lower corner of the body-unit 10 when being worn), which projection 33 is chambered to house the microphone 13. The microphone, which may be either of the crystal pack type or of the magnetic type is usually rectangular in shape. Otherwise, the compartmentation of the main body member 10, shown in Figure 6, is substantially the same as that shown in Figure 5 with the exception, however, that the condensers C and C and the resistors R and R are rearranged as indicated. The microphone 13 may be arranged to face forwardly of the user in which event it will be exposed to ambient sound waves by opening 34; or, preferably the microphone may face from the side of the users head, in which case it will be exposed to ambient sound waves through opening 34 in the front wall a of the extension 33. In this form of the invention, the ear-adorning hearing-aid device may be of less weight 6 than shown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, and, also, it may be camouflaged by a single ornament 30 as previously described.

Figure 7 shows another modified form of the invention wherein the receiver 14* is of thebone conduction type that maybe cemented to the skull immediately in back of the external ear E of the wearer and has a short wire 35 extending therefrom into the main body-unit 10 of the ear-ring. The main body-unit 10 may be, as shown, of the type shown in Figure 6 or maybe of the typeshown in Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, depending upon the requirements of the user. In this form of ,the-inven: tion, there will be no receiver provided in a compartment x within the body-unit 10. The body-unit 10 in this form of the invention may be camouflaged by an ornament 30, as previously described.

The advantages of the present invention, over prior known devices, are that (l) a complete hearing-aid is provided for one or both cars which may be worn as an article of adornment at the ears of the wearer without advertising the fact that they are being used as a hearingaid except upon the closest and intimate inspection, (2) it ease of application and removal and the facility by which it may be used and adjusted, (3) the complete absence of clothing noises, (4) the wearer may use a telephone in the same manner as persons with normal hearing, and (5) the microphone or microphones, together with their respective receivers, are positioned naturally at the car being serviced thereby, thus providing a true binaural hearing-aid.

From the above it will be clear that the ear-ring hear ing-aid devices, above described, attain the objects of the invention with all of the advantages that have been enumerated and others which are obvious from the above description. l Having thus described the invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, it is to be understood that the invention may be varied and modified from the exact forms herein shown and described and that the invention is not to be limited except by the terms of the appended claims.

That which is claimed as new and to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. As a hearing aid device for persons having impaired hearing, an ear adornment comprising a body assembly designed and dimensioned to be worn exteriorly of an external ear of a person and including retention means for removably retaining said body in position at the external ear of the wearer in the manner of an earring, said body having walls defining a chambered interior; a controllable electrical hearing-aid amplifying system including therein a microphone, amplifying means, and a battery contained within the chambered body and further including a receiver connected to said amplifying means and having means positioned for transmitting signals therefrom to the audible-responsive sensitivity of the wearer at said ear area, when worn; and an element of resilient sound absorbing material disposed between said microphone and said walls.

2. A hearing-aid device as claimed in claim 1, further characterized by the receiver being carried by said body and there being a sound conveying extension from the receiver and is adapted to extend into the meatus of said ear.

3. A hearing-aid device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiver is disposed within said chambered interior of said body and a tubular extension projects from ,the receiver and is adapted to extend into the meatus of said ear, when the device is being worn, the dimensions of said body being such as to mask the tubular extension when projecting into the meatus of the ear.

4. A hearing-aid device for persons having impaired hearing and comprising a body having walls defining a chambered interior and including retention means for removably retaining the body in position at the external car of the wearer in the manner of an earring; a controllable electric hearing-aid including an amplifying means, a microphone, a receiver and a battery, means connecting said hearing-aid elements electrically in an operable system, said amplifying means and said battery being contained within said chambered body and said receiver having means positioned to transmit signals therefrom to the audible-responsive sensitivity of the wearer at said ear area; and a pendant extending from said body for relatively short distance and containing said microphone.

5. A hearing-aid device for persons having impaired hearing and comprising a body designed and dimensioned to be worn as an earring and having walls defining a chambered interior and including retention means for removably retaining the body in position at the external ear of the wearer in the manner of an earring; a controllable electrical hearing aid including an amplifying means, a microphone, a receiver and a battery, means connecting said hearing-aid elements electrically in an operable system, the amplifying means and said battery being contained within said chambered body and said receiver having means positioned for conducting signals therefrom to the audible-responsive sensitivity of the wearer at said ear area, a tubular member suspended from said body and supporting said microphone at the free end portion thereof as a pendant of said earring, said tubular member covering the electrical connection of the microphone to said amplifying means.

6. A hearing aid as claimed in claim wherein the tubular member has a rotatable frictional connection between said pendant and said body thereby permitting deliberate adjustment of the microphone relative to said housing.

7. A hearing-aid device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said body is of greater width and length than thickness and has a slot-like opening therein extending into the chamber for the battery to permit quick insertion of the battery therein, and a manually operated ejector means movably mounted on the body and having a portion thereof positioned to engage a battery disposed in its said chamber and having an exteriorly projecting finger-piece for actuating the ejector to discharge the battery therefrom.

8. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein the receiver is a bone-conduction receiver adapted to be disposed behind the ear of the wearer in the area of the mastoid bone and having a part to conform to the contour of said area and to contact therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,230,500 Lybarger Feb. 4, 1941 2,327,321 Shapiro Aug. 17, 1943 2,477,046 Davenport July 26, 1949 2,497,336 Young Feb. 14, 1950 2,506,116 Starkey May 2, 1950 2,549,629 Nelson Apr. 17, 1951 2,595,672 Greenwood May 6, 1952 2,613,282 Scaife Oct. 7, 1952 2,787,670 Rowland Apr. 2, 1957 OTHER REFERENCES Publication, Earrings That Act as Hearing Aids, from Modern Plastics magazine, June 1956, vol. 91.23, pp. -122.

Publication, Telex Twinset Pipes Signal Directly Into the Ear, April 14, 1950.

Publication, Cleartone 700, November 7, 1950, by American Sound Products, Inc.

Publication, Aurex P.A., April 8, 1952. 

